Promise
by AngelOfPride
Summary: "It's alright to be afraid." "But Shere Khan is dead. It's stupid to be afraid of nothing." Though Shere Khan may be gone, he continues to haunt the boy's dreams, and with the guilt of Akela's death on his conscience, Mowgli finds consolation with Bagheera. Fluff fic
_The red flower swirled and danced tauntingly beneath his feet from where he swung on the precarious branch he had crafted in a seconds thought his calloused heels screamed. It was over. The tiger was dead.
The boy yelped in shock and pain heat scolded his legs, whipping his head down to stare in horror at the red flower where it had begun to twitch and jerk more and more violently, sometimes shooting up in areas to attack him with bursts of agony. He clung to the vine as his jaw dropped at a familiar, thunderous and blood-thirsty roar. The tiger appeared from the flower, his striped pelt torn away, skin burnt and bleeding- his wild, menacing eye stared right into the child as he leapt up, claws outstretched, and the boy screamed-_

Mowgli's eyes shot open with a start, and he winced as he jolted on the stone floor of the den. Sitting up rapidly, shivering against the cold, still air that crept into the sturdy walls, he glanced around warily. Relief filled him as he picked out the russet and silver pelts of his littermates, their still fluffy cub-fur lit by the moonlight that filtered through the entrance and picked its way through every hair on their tiny bodies. Mowgli pushed his hair back from where it had stuck to his forehead, cringing slightly at the uncomfortable sensation of sweat that he met, as well as the realisation that his limbs were still quaking. Not for the first time cursing that he didn't have the same talented vision in the night time as that of the rest of the pack, the man-cub stood cautiously, swivelling around only from the waiste up so as to avoid stepping on any tiny tails, scanning the den for Raksha.

It didn't take him long to spot the she-wolf, as her already pale fur glowed, luminescent in the rays of the moon, fighting away the shadows even from where she lay curled up in the very back of the den. As Mowgli raised a foot to take a seek comfort from her over his plagued sleep, he hesitated. She looked so peaceful, as she should do in a time of peace for all the jungle, and he could not bring himself to disturb her from her slumber, especially when her duties as alpha would call for her at the first cry of the cuckoo bird at dawn.

Sighing inwardly, Mowgli locked his eyes to the cold ground before him and carefully picked his way out of the small den, out into the open. The brief relief of the jungle's freedom he initially experienced was short lived however as he stared up the layers of rock, to the cliff where the alpha stood. The cliff where Akela perished at the teeth of Shere Khan.

"You should be asleep, Mowgli."

The man-cub jumped in shock, whirling around; his eyes immediately locked on the flicking, thin black tail dangling before him, his gaze following up its length to where the panther who owned it lay in his favourite spot, head hanging over his foreleg so that his gleaming pale emerald gaze could blink patiently at the boy.

Mowgli hesitated, then shrugged, trying to stay casual, "I couldn't- I needed some fresh air."  
A low rumble echoed from Bagheera's throat as the cat slowly drew his tail up to drape it over the branch behind him, "Is that so?"

Trying not to fidget under the scrutinising gaze boring down on him, Mowgli simply nodded, kicking his foot over the stone, "Yep-"  
"Mowgli."

There was silence then, only the faint chatter of the night creatures rising into the night. The man-cub lowered his eyes, unable to hold Bagheera's eyes any longer. He knew. Of course, if anybody, it would be Bagheera who caught onto his true thoughts.

The sound of claws against wood instinctively forced his head up, and Mowgli tilted his head as he watched the panther curl himself up towards the edge of the branch, then glance back down and tap his tail on the bark, already smooth from many years of his presence, "Come."  
Hesitating for only a heart beat, Mowgli hurried up the trunk of the tree, not caring that splinters threatened to pierce his already scraped hands. Scrambling along the branch, he desperately, but carefully, gripped the black cat's pelt between his fingers, pressing his face in Bagheera's flank as he had when he was very much a cub indeed, in his first months in the pack. It had been a lot for such a little child to take in of course, and while Raksha doted upon him and he had quickly grown to adore her, it was still the panther who had discovered him that he had recognised simply as safe. There had been nights when nobody in the pack could sooth the wailing boy, and the big cat would prowl into the den unannounced and lie by the child, never speaking a word to anybody as he let the infant yank on his tail, rub his hands all over his ears and pull his fur a little too hard.

"It's alright to be afraid."

Bagheera's deep, quiet voice drew him back to the present, and Mowgli rested the side of his face against the panther's flank, "But Shere Khan is dead. It's stupid to be afraid of nothing." he muttered, hating the way his voice shook.

"It's no act of stupidity to fear the memory of a character like that." Bagheera said firmly, "None of us will be forgetting Khan's tyranny for many cycles of the rain to come."

"But you never feared him." Mowgli scoffed, "Twice you stood up to him while I ran like a coward!"  
"On both counts did I not tell you to run?"  
"Well...yes, but-"  
"And on both counts was I not defeated?"  
Mowgli scowled up at the jungle cat, "But you weren't afraid to try!"  
His eyes widened as the pelt beneath him shifted as a small chuckle purred out of Bagheera's chest, "Oh I was afraid."  
"You were?"  
"Terribly so. Not since I first met Shere Khan did I ever want to be within a paw's reach of him, let alone meet him in a battle of brute strength." the cat shook his head back and forth rapidly, ears flicking, "Quite frankly, I had rather hoped to avoid him at all available opportunity."

Furrowing his brow, Mowgli followed the panther's gaze to the moon high in the sky, "Then why didn't you?... I mean, you all could have easily just handed me over. This all would have been over so much faster. And...And Akela-"  
"Would never have forgiven himself if he sent one of his own to their death."

Glancing over, the man-cub stared as Bagheera spoke, "Akela was a good friend of mine, and like everybody I miss him dearly, but he _is_ gone, and that we cannot undo. But trust me when I say that he would have kept you from harm even if he had to go through a thousand deaths."

Mowgli winced, unsure, "How can you be so certain?"  
"Because I would do the same."  
Staring at the cat, Mowgli blinked with wide eyes as Bagheera turned his head to meet his gaze, green eyes full of only sincerity.

Lip quivering, Mowgli flung himself against the panther, pulling himself over to press his face against Bagheera's, who purred low in his throat and gently butted his nose against the boy.

"You can't ever leave me, Bagheera! Promise?" the man-cub gasped out, moving his arms to curl them around the cat's neck.

There was a small silence, then a nod, "I promise."


End file.
